Rotary nozzle for ladle

ABSTRACT

A rotary nozzle for a ladle which is comprised of a fixed disc provided at a lower end portion of a nozzle at the bottom of a ladle and a rotor mounting thereon. A sliding disc is provided with a plurality of nozzle bores in surface contact with the lower surface of the fixed disc, and a rotor is provided with lower nozzles communicating with the nozzle bores. A main frame is provided with a releasable stopping mechanism with leveractuated means for removably attaching the rotor therein. A rotary driving mechanism provides normal and reverse rotation to the rotor. The rotor is freely removable merely by releasing the releasable stopping mechanism to remove the sliding disc, to thereby permit simple replacement of the rotor.

United States Patent 1 [111 3, 64,047

Inoue et al. Oct. 9, 1973 References Cited ROTARY NOZZLE FOR LADLE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLI ATION [75] Inventors: Isao Inoue, Yokohama; Susumu C S Sekine; Takeshi Himseboth of 374,454 1959 Switzerland 222/DIG. 7 Tokyo; Kenichi Matsumoto,

Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Yokohama obuo Miyagawa Assistant Examiner-Larry Martin Kawasakl a l ofJapan, Att0rney-Flynn & Frishauf [73] Assignee: Nippon Kokan KabushikiKaisha;

Tokyo Yogyo Kabushiki Kaisha; [57] ABSTRACT Kflkflllklkfll K gy Kabushlki Kalsha A rotary nozzle for a ladle which is comprised of a e fixed disc provided at a lower end portion of a nozzle [22] 1972 at the bottom of a ladle and a rotor mounting thereon. [2]] App]. No.: 232,171 A sliding disc is provided with a plurality of nozzle bores in surface contact with the lower surface of the fixed disc, and a rotor is provided with lower nozzles [30] Foreign Application Priority Data 46 90367 communicating with the nozzle bores. A main frame is Nov. l2, 1971 Japan provided with a releasable pp g mechanism with lever-actuated means for removably attaching the UOS. n s e s l s a u 3 A v 22/5 B22d 37/00 normal and reverse rotation to the rotor. The rotor is gf id -f- 2 516 548 freely removable merely by releasing the releasable ie o care stopping mechanism to remove the sliding disc, to 5 5 5 4522 thereby permit simple replacement of the rotor.

11 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented Oct. 9, 1973 3,764,047

4 Sheets-5heot 1 Patented Oct. 9, 1973 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 N at Patented Oct. 9, 1973 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Oct. 9, 1973 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ROTARY NOZZLE FOR LADLE The present invention relates to a rotary nozzle which brings about a longer service life of a stopper for ladle and which permits a number of times of use. The novel rotary nozzle of the present invention is characterized in that a. part which requires replacement of members is set in a compact unit, and only the part to be replaced is so designed as to be removable from the mainbody, leaving the incidental mechanism of a noz zle as it is.

It is a well known fact that a nozzle for a ladle is severely damaged at the time of discharging molten metal as it is used under severe conditions of temperature and the like. Particularly, upper the nozzle, fixed disk, sliding disk, lower nozzle and the like into the engaging portion of which molten metal enters are further severely damaged and the service life thereof is short, thereby requiring replacement thereof once per four or five times of discharge of molten metal with a product of high quality and each time of discharge of molten metal with a product of ordinary quality. However, in the conventional nozzle of this type, a portion which is relatively severely damaged by molten metal is provided in a state of difficult replacement to the bottom of the ladle and it is necessary to remove the damaged member and the whole incidental facilities for replacing said damaged member, thereby resulting in extremely difficult and troublesome replacement and poor operational efficiency.

The main object of the present invention is to eliminate the aforegoing drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Concretely, the present invention provides a novel rotary nozzle for a ladle which is comprised of a fixed disk provided at a lower end portion of a nozzle at a bottom of a ladle, a rotor mounting thereon, a sliding disk provided with a plurality of nozzle bores in surface contact with a lower surface of said fixed disk, and a rotor provided with lower nozzles communicated with said nozzles bores. A main frame is provided with a stopping mechanism and with lever actuated means removably attaching said rotor therein, and a rotary driving mechanism provides normal and reverse rotation to said rotor. The novel construction enables freely removing said sliding disk and replacing of said rotor merely by releasing said stopping mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 denotes a receiving portion for the nozzle fixed at a discharge port of a bottom lining 2 and bottom wall 3 of a ladle, 4 the upper nozzle to be inserted into said receiving portion, and 5 a fixed disk made of refractory material provided at a lower end portion of nozzle, respectively. See FIGS. 2 and 4. The nozzle 4 and fixed disk 5 are freely removably fitted to said receiving portion 1 from a downward direction. The reference numeral 6 denotes a sliding disk which slides in contact with a lower surface of said fixed disk 5, and is arranged eccentrically B from the center A of said fixed disk 5. Said sliding disk 6 is piercedly provided with three nozzle bores 7, 8 and 9 with an adjusted diameter which are provided on the identical circular arc passing through the center line of said upper nozzle 4 with a proper spacing therebetween, respectively (FIG. 4). The lower nozzles l0, l1 and 12 are arranged to communicate with a plurality of said nozzle bores 7, 8, 9 at the lower portions thereof. The rotor 13 has a circular projecting flange 14 around the periphery thereof, said sliding disk 6 being mounted on the upper portion thereof, and said lower nozzles I0, 11 and 12 being freely removably attached therein. The reference numeral 15 denotes a supporting plate to fix said lower nozzles 10, 11 and 12.

The main frame is supported on the bottom plate 17 fixed to the ladle bottom by a proper means and said rotor 13 is freely removably fitted therein. The aforegoing rotor, lower nozzles, sliding disk, fixed disk and upper nozzle are assembled in a compact replacement set. FIG. 4 shows an assembling and dismantling state of said compact replacement set.

Forward and reverse rotation movement is imparted to the rotor by the rotary driving mechanism. Said rotary driving mechanism is comprised of a bevel gear, a reducing gear, a coupling, a motor, etc. As shown in FIG. 5, the a bevel gear 18 is provided with an opening 20 at its center having convex portions 19 to closely receive the upper portion of said rotor 13. Said bevel gear is so designed as to be rotatable with a guide of the upper portion of the circumferential side of said main frame 16. The small bevel gear 21 which engages with said bevel gear 18 is connected to the driving shaft of the heat-resistant motor 24 (FIG. 2) fitted to the bottom wall through the reducing gear 22 and the coupling 23. The bevel gears 18 and 21 are rotated by the driving of said motor, and at the same time, the rotor 13 engaged with the convex portions 19 provided at the opening of the bevel gear 18 is rotated. On the other hand, the main frame 16 is provided with the stopping mechanism to permit the removal of the rotor 13 attached inside said frame. The stopping mechanism is described hereinbelow. The reference numeral 25 denotes a lever to press said rotor 13 upwardly. A plurality of levers 25 are provided properly spaced apart around the periphery of said rotor 13 and are directed in the peripheral direction (refer to FIGS. 1 and 6). The pin 26 is erectly provided on the bottom plate 17 and the upper portion thereof is engaged in the elongate recess 27 provided at the lower surface of said lever 25 in a longitudinal direction. Accordingly, said lever 25 can move in the longitudinal direction thereof, rotate centering around said pin 26 and move upwardly and downwardly. The roller 28 is freely rotatably attached to the top end of said lever 25 and rotates in contact with the projecting flange 14 of said rotor 13. The bolt 29 is connected to the other end of said lever 25, the upper part thereof being screwed to the spring shoe 33 which moves inside the case 30 in the upward and downward directions, and said spring shoe 33 being biased to move in the downward direction by means of the spring 32 attached in the case 30. Accordingly, the roller 28 at the top end of the lever 25 contacts the projecting flange 14 of said rotor 13 and presses the same upwardly. Thus, said pressure is properly adjustable by adjusting the screwing length of said bolt 29 and spring shoe 33. Further, it is possible to compensate for the fluctuation of the pressure due to heat deformation by using a coiled spring as the spring 32. The nut 31 is fitted over to the bolt 29 while being screwed to the spring shoe 34, so that it can move upwardly and downwardly while rotating around said bolt. Said nut prevents the sliding disk from opening when an alien substance gets between the fixed disk and the sliding disk during use of the apparatus of the present invention by hindering the upward movement of the spring shoe 33. The spring shoe 34 is fixed in the case 30.

The retaining plate 35 of a ring shape for retaining a plurality of said cases 30 is so arranged as to rotate with a guide on the outer peripheral wall of the main frame 16. The reference numeral 36 denotes a universal bracket fixed to said retaining plate 35, and 37 a screw rod screwed to said bracket 35 at its top end, with the other end thereof being freely rotatably supported to the bracket 38 fixed to the bottom plate 17. Accordingly, by rotating the screw rod 37 said universal bracket 36 moves in the axial direction and rotates the whole retaining plate 35 in the peripheral direction of the frame 16.

Hereinafter, the action is described. In replacing a damaged member, as mentioned above, when the screw rod 37 is rotated, the retaining plate 35 rotates in the peripheral direction, and at the same time, each case 30 moves, whereby a plurality of levers 25 rotate on the pin 26 which acts as a supporting axis respectively (in the arrow direction in FIG. 1), and the roller 28 at the top end thereof comes off from the projecting flange 14 of the rotor 13. Accordingly, it is possible to easily remove rotor 13 from the main frame 16 by drawing out only the same downwardly irrespective of the driving means such as a motor and the like. It is also possible to easily remove the upper nozzle 4 and the fixed disk from the receiving portion 1. Then, the damaged fixed'disk 5 as well as sliding disk 6 may be replaced with new ones. Thus, the upper nozzle 4 and the fixed disk 5 are again fitted to the receiving portion 1, the rotor 13 mounted with the sliding disk 6 and fixed with the lower nozzles 10, 11 and 12 through the supporting plate being fitted in the main frame 16. Thereafter the screw rod 37 is rotated, whereby the lever 25 returns to its original position through the ring shaped retaining plate 35, the case 30 and the bolt 29, the roller 28 at the top end thereof contacting the projecting flange 14 of the rotor 13 to press upwardly and retain the same.

As is described hereinabove, in accordance with the novel rotary nozzle for a ladle of the present invention, it is possible to easily replace the fixed disk and both the upper and lower nozzles as well as the sliding disk within a short period of time by removing only the rotor from the main frame without removing the main frame nor the rotary driving mechanism. Further, the removingof the rotor can be easily accomplished by the rotation of the screw rod. Furthermore, since a plurality of nozzle bores are provided on the sliding disk, it is possible to use the nozzle bores a number of times merely by rotating the sliding table.

What is claimed is:

1. Rotary nozzle for a ladle comprising:

a fixed disk (5) provided at a lower end portion of a nozzle (1) at a bottom of a ladle;

a sliding disk (6) having a plurality of nozzle bores (7,8,9) and having a major surface in surface contact with a lower surface of said fixed disk (5), said sliding disk (6) being movable relative to said fixed disk and having one of said bores (7,8,9) in selective registration with said nozzle (1);

a rotor (13) mounted adjacent the other major surface of said sliding disk (6), said rotor (13) having lower nozzles (10,11,12) selectively communicated with said nozzle bores (7,8,9) of said sliding disk (6);

a main frame provided with a mechanism for removably attaching said rotor (13) thereto, said attaching mechanism comprising a lever (25) pivotally coupled at a point (26) intermediate its ends to said main frame (16,17), said lever (25) being selectively pivotal about said pivot point (26) generally in a first plane, and a roller (28) on one end portion of said lever (25 for bearing against a portion of said rotor (13) when said lever (25) is pivoted in a first direction to engage and retain said rotor (13) in position against said sliding plate, said roller (28) disengaging from and releasing said rotor (13) when said lever (25) is pivoted in the opposite direction, said roller (28) rolling relative to said rotor (13) during pivotal movement of said lever (25) with said lever in engagement with said rotor; and

a rotary driving mechanism (18,2l,22,23,24) for providing normal and reverse rotation to said rotor (13), said rotor and sliding disk being freely removable from said driving mechanism by releasing said attaching mechanism.

2. Rotary nozzle according to claim 1 wherein said attaching mechanism further comprises means (36,37) communicating with the other end portion of said lever (25) for causing said lever (25) to selectively pivot about said pivot point (26).

3. Rotary nozzle according to claim 1 wherein said lever (25) is pivotable in a second plane which is angu larly oriented relative to said first plane.

4. Rotary nozzle according to claim 3 wherein said second plane is substantially perpendicular to said first plane.

5. Rotary nozzle according to claim 3 wherein said attaching mechanism includes means for biasing said lever to pivot about said pivot point in said second plane so as to cause said roller to be biased against said rotor, to thereby maintain and press said rotor in position.

6. Rotary nozzle according to claim 5 wherein said biasing means comprises spring means operating against the end portion of said lever which is opposite from said roller.

7 Rotary nozzle according to claim 1 wherein said ladle carries a plurality of fixed disks, sliding disks and rotors, and wherein said main frame carries a plurality of pivotal levers respectively coupled to each of said rotors for removably attaching said rotors to said ladle, said attaching mechanism further comprising means coupled to each of said levers for simultaneously operating all of said levers for simultaneous releasing of all of said rotors.

8. Rotary nozzle according to claim 7 wherein said fixed and sliding disks, and said rotors are arranged about the periphery of a circular ladle, and said main frame comprises a ring-shaped retainer plate with means coupling said retainer plate to said levers for imparting said pivotal movement to said levers.

9. Rotary nozzle according to claim 8 wherein said attaching mechanism further comprises an actuator screw means which is selectively actuated to impart movement to said retainer plate to cause pivotal movement of said levers, and a universal joint coupling said actuator screw means to said retainer plate.

l0. Rotary nozzle according to claim 6 wherein said biasing means comprises a fixed stop member for permitting only a predetermined degree of movement of said lever in said second plane due to displacement of said rotor during use of said ladle.

ll. Rotary nozzle according to claim 1 wherein said rotary driving mechanism includes motor means, a first bevel gear coupled to said motor means and a second bevel gear coupled to said first bevel gear and to said rotor to impart rotation to said rotor. 

1. Rotary nozzle for a ladle comprising: a fixed disk (5) provided at a lower end portion of a nozzle (1) at a bottom of a ladle; a sliding disk (6) having a plurality of nozzle bores (7,8,9) and having a major surface in surface contact with a lower surface of said fixed disk (5), said sliding disk (6) being movable relative to said fixed disk and having one of said bores (7,8,9) in selective registration with said nozzle (1); a rotor (13) mounted adjacent the other major surface of said sliding disk (6), said rotor (13) having lower nozzles (10,11,12) selectively communicated with said nozzle bores (7,8,9) of said sliding disk (6); a main frame provided with a mechanism for removably attaching said rotor (13) thereto, said attaching mechanism comprising a lever (25) pivotally coupled at a point (26) intermediate its ends to said main frame (16,17), said lever (25) being selectively pivotal about said pivot point (26) generally in a first plane, and a roller (28) on one end portion of said lever (25) for bearing against a portion of said rotor (13) when said lever (25) is pivoted in a first direction to engage and retain said rotor (13) in position against said sliding plate, said roller (28) disengaging from and releasing said rotor (13) when said lever (25) is pivoted in the opposite direction, said roller (28) rolling relative to said rotor (13) during pivotal movement of said lever (25) with said lever in engagement with said rotor; and a rotary driving mechanism (18,21,22,23,24) for providing normal and reverse rotation to said rotor (13), said rotor and sliding disk being freely removable from said driving mechanism by releasing said attaching mechanism.
 2. Rotary nozzle according to claim 1 wherein said attaching mechanism further comprises means (36,37) communicating with the other end portion of said lever (25) for causing said lever (25) to selectively pivot about said pivot point (26).
 3. Rotary nozzle according to claim 1 wherein said lever (25) is pivotable in a second plane which is angularly oriented relative to said first plane.
 4. Rotary nozzle according to claim 3 wherein said second plane is substantially perpendicular to said first plane.
 5. Rotary nozzle according to claim 3 wherein said attaching mechanism includes means for biasing said lever to pivot about said pivot point in said second plane so as to cause said roller to be biased against said rotor, to thereby maintain and press said rotor in position.
 6. Rotary nozzle according to claim 5 wherein said biasing means comprises spring means operating against the end portion of said lever which is opposite from said roller. 7 Rotary nozzle according to claim 1 wherein said ladle carries a plurality of fixed disks, sliding disks and rotors, and wherein said main frame carries a plurality of pivotal levers respectively coupled to each of said rotors for removably attaching said rotors to said ladle, said attaching mechanism further comprising means coupled to each of said levers for simultaneously operating all of said levers for simultaneous releasing of all of said rotors.
 8. Rotary nozzle according to claim 7 wherein said fixed and sliding disks, and said rotors are arranged about the periphery of a circular ladle, and said main frame comprises a ring-shaped retainer plate with means coupling said retainer plate to said levers for imparting said pivotal movement to said levers.
 9. Rotary nozzle according to claim 8 wherein said attaching mechanism further comprises an actuator screw means which is selectively actuated to impart movement to said retainer plate to cause pivotal movement of said levers, and a universal joint coupling said actuator screw means to said retainer plate.
 10. Rotary nozzle according to claim 6 wherein said biasing means comprises a fixed stop member for permitting only a predetermined degree of movement of said lever in said second plane due to displacement of said rotor during use of said ladle.
 11. Rotary nozzle according to claim 1 wherein said rotary driving mechanism includes motor means, a first bevel gear coupled to said motor means and a second bevel gear coupled to said first bevel gear and to said rotor to impart rotation to said rotor. 